The group split in 2002 but the break-up wasn't made official until 2003 when guitarist Dean DeLeo revealed it was "time to move on to other things".

Weiland went on to form Velvet Revolver with former Guns N' Roses stars Slash, Duff MCKagan and Matt Sorum later that year (03). He was sacked from the group earlier this month (Apr08), leaving him free to pursue his career with the band that launched him to fame.

But DeLeo insists the reunion may never have happened if Weiland's partner, Mary, hadn't asked him to play at a party last year (07) as a favor.

He tells MTV.com, "Mary called me, because (bassist) Robert and I have this band with (Tom Petty + the Heartbreakers drummer) Steve Feronne, doing this big 12-piece band (Farm Fur), and Mary called me, because there was some private party she was involved with, and she asked us to play. And then she said, 'Scott's here. Do you want to talk to him?' And we started chatting."

And singer Weiland is convinced it was this phone call that led to the decision to reform and embark on a 2008 tour.

He adds, "We were just putting a bunch of guys together to play this beach party - covers and stuff like that. And Dean is saying to me, 'Man, it would be cool if people could see us on stage.'

"Not long after that, I was on the road, and Dean called me up. He said, 'Are you sitting down?' He said he'd heard from our agent, and that some offers had come in for some festivals this summer."

The rockers will embark on their first tour in six years in Cleveland, Ohio, on 20 May (08).